[imagesource: YouTube / News24]

On Monday, the government announced a national state of disaster in response to the floods swelling in a couple of provinces across the northern, central, and eastern parts of the country.

Heavy rains continue to batter Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga while five people have already lost their lives thanks to the extreme conditions in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

The greater Kruger National Park has been lashed by heavy rains since Friday, with rivers overflowing and roads being cut off by the surging water.

The Kruger National Park Disaster Management teams have had to “remain on alert” in anticipation of more rain, according to a statement issued by SANParks on Tuesday.

Visitors have been advised to be “extra cautious” with the torrential downpours causing bridges to collapse and become inaccessible.

Meanwhile, the animals are also becoming panicked by their sudden lack of mobility:

It was so sweet how the one giraffe tested the water for its whole tower (the collective noun for a group of giraffes, by the way) before they all turned around.

Video footage also captured the river raging:

The videos have been pouring in:

The last time the area experienced such a high volume of water was in the 2012 floods, according to the executive director of Klaserie Drift Safari Camps, Talitha Jansen:

“Since Wednesday last week, we have recorded 245mm rain,” Jansen told News24, adding that much of the downpour had already subsided.

“The water did not reach that flood line this year, but it was amazing to see the river transform in such a small space of time – [in around] 48 hours.”

At the moment, gravel roads in the south of the Kruger National Park remain closed, while tar roads, except for the main road between Skukuza and Lower Sabie, remain open, according to SANParks.

May all go safely into the wild.

[source:news24]